Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Theatres: Closures

Baroness Eaton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of (1) the number of (a) regional, and (b) local, theatres that have permanently closed, and (2) the number of local authority areas that have lost their only performance venue, since March 2020.

Baroness Eaton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of local councils’ ability to fund local and regional theatres following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Baroness Barran: 14% of theatres in the UK are directly operated by local authorities and many more are owned by and subsidised by local authorities.The Theatres Trust has provided details of six theatre buildings where the operator has either withdrawn from their operating contract or gone into liquidation, leaving them without an operator since the start of the pandemic. These theatres are not necessarily closed permanently as efforts are progressing to identify new operators. DCMS does not collect any further data in this area.In January, the Chancellor announced £4.6 billion in one-off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the Spring. This is in addition to £1.1 billion further discretionary grant funding for Local Authorities, and Local Restriction Support Grants worth up to £3,000 a month. So far, more than £1 billion has been allocated to thousands of organisations including theatres.Theatres have also benefited from the Cultural Recovery Fund. To date, over £1.2 billion has been allocated from this fund, reaching over 5000 individual organisations and sites. Of this funding, awards with a value of over £183m were made to applicants whose main artform is ‘theatre’ in Round 1 recovery grant funding, and in Round 2 almost £60 million was awarded to help theatres survive and plan for reopening.The Chancellor also announced in the 2021 Budget an additional £300 million to support theatres, museums and other cultural organisations in England through the Culture Recovery Fund. This extra funding, together with other cultural support such as funding for our national museums, means that our total support package for culture during the pandemic is now approaching £2bn.The Government has also extended the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and the continued reduction in VAT, among other measures.

Department for Work and Pensions

Members: Correspondence

Lord Field of Birkenhead: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will answer the letter that he wrote to the Lord Chancellor concerning Arcadia pensions on 2 March.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: A reply was sent to the Noble Lord on 15 April 2021.

Learning Disability: ICT

Baroness Browning: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that people with learning disabilities have (1) training on, and (2) access to, IT, so that they are not isolated from information and services.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: Government’s Plan for Jobs provides new funding to ensure more people, including those with learning disabilities get tailored Jobcentre Plus support to help them find work and to build the skills they need to get into work. This includes £895 million to recruit an additional 13,500 Work Coaches which the Department is on track to achieve by Quarter 1 2021/22, and £2.9 billion invested in the Restart Programme, which is due to go live from summer 2021. The Restart Programme will support individuals who have been unemployed for over 12 months and through regular, personalised support providers will work with participants to identify the best way to support them into sustained employment.From April 2021, the Disability Employment Advisors (DEA) Direct Support will be strengthened to include an element of Direct Support to customers with health condition or disability who require additional support over and above the ESA and Universal Credit core offer. DEA Direct Support will deliver work focussed bespoke support to move individuals with a disability or health condition towards a work outcome. In addition, the Intensive Personalised Employment Support Programme provides highly personalised packages of employment support for disabled people who want to work but have complex needs or barriers and require specialist support to achieve sustained employment. People will get coaching, work experience, and a dedicated key worker who will work with them to overcome complex barriers, including lack of IT skills, which may be preventing them from entering work.The Help to Claim service provides all UC customers with tailored, practical support at every step of their claim until they receive their first payment. It includes help with setting up an email address or a UC account, verifying identity, accessing a DWP home visit or preparing for their first payment. At a local level, there are a range of digital inclusion courses available, which a work coach can help a learning disabled jobseeker access.